God's Common-Sense vs. Worldly Non-Sense

Common-Sense vs. Non-Sense

 by Jonathan Carl

On December 19, 1807, in what is now LaRue County, a brave and courageous man named Thomas Whitman stood up for God’s common-sense against the worldly non-sense of slavery in our community.  He knew that it was morally wrong for people to treat other humans as property.  He spoke up.  He took action.

Proverbs 16:17 “The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.” (ESV)

Today, we need more men and women to stand up for God’s common-sense.  God has revealed Himself generally through His creation (Romans 1:19–20) and by writing His law upon our consciences for our own good (Romans 2:15).  We know what is right but often ignore it, avoid it, excuse it, or mock it.  When a person or a nation follows the non-sense of the world, great destruction occurs.  When a person or a nation follows the common-sense of God’s law, it goes much better for us.

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Here are some areas you might recognize how our culture is following worldly non-sense instead of God-given common-sense:

•   Finances/Economics - Spending more than you earn leads to indebtedness.  Indebtedness is not indefinitely sustainable and leads to enslavement, poverty, and ruin.

•   Abortion - A human life in a womb is a God-created child.  These children need protection.  They  have their own heartbeats, brains, unique bodies, DNA, and souls.  Shedding innocent blood is wicked no mater how one might try to excuse it.

•   Sexual Immorality - Abandoning God’s plan for sex to remain within marriage, between one man and one woman for life, leads to emotional, relational, mental, and spiritual harm.

•   Homosexuality - Ignoring our anatomical, biological, and reproductive design is twisted, unnatural, unhealthy, and dishonorable to God.  We must resist the temptations of our feelings and pursue what is right according to God’s law.

•   Transgenderism - We are genetically, anatomically, and biologically male or female. Our sex and gender do not change and are not subjective to our feelings or self-identification.  Hormone therapy, makeup, clothes, pronouns, name-changes, and surgeries do not alter the reality of our gender.

•   Gluttony & Laziness - Heavier is not healthier.  Eating more than we exercise is dangerous and deadly.  Poor diet and physical laziness lead to a shorter lifespan and a lower quality of life.

•   Substance Abuse - Poisoning our brains and bodies with drugs, medicines, chemicals, alcohol, and tobacco does permanent harm to ourselves and others.

•   Government - Corruption, wastefulness, and selfishness lead to a nation defeating itself.

•   Gambling - The house always wins. Gambling is foolish, addictive, and leads the vast majority of its participants to significant financial loss over time.

Jeremiah 29:7 “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

The consequences of following worldly non-sense are self-destructive to our nation and to individuals.   Moral goodness does not and cannot save us from sin… but if our nation follow’s God’s law of common-sense instead of the world’s non-sense, it will go a lot better for us all.  May we have more courageous and bold men and women who speak up and take action on behalf of God’s common-sense for the sake of our future generations.

Jeremiah 18:7–10 “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.”

Look Ahead, Not Behind.

By Brandon Walker

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

There's an old saying that I honestly can't pinpoint it's origin, but it's so true.  It's been said that the reason the windshield on a car is bigger than the rear view mirror is because we should spend more time looking ahead of us than behind us while we're driving.  And, while I'm uncertain of who said this first (because an "original" thought is simply a forgotten source), this saying couldn't be more true when applied to our Christian walk of faith.  Paul spoke of this very idea in the book of Philippians.  If there was ever such a Christian that could be tempted to struggle with his life and actions of the past, it could easily be Paul.  Paul's life before he met Jesus was less than stellar to say the least.  Paul even refereed to himself as the "worst of the worst" in the book of 1 Timothy.  As a zealous member of the Pharisees and a member of the Sanhedrin, an elite council of the Jews, Paul actively persecuted the church and had Christians thrown into jail and even killed.  When we are first introduced to Paul in the book of Acts, it's at the stoning of Stephen.  Paul basically tells those that stone Stephen "take off your coats and I'll watch them while you stone this guy." He highly approved of not just this execution of Stephen, but many others.  But, once Paul met Jesus, he became a new man, and a new creation in Christ.  However. Paul had the memory of his past in his mind.  It had to be one of Satan's constant attacks on Paul. I can only imagine that "the accuser" that is Satan must have reminded Paul of his past life and failures constantly. But how did Paul deal with the memory of his past?  We are told he "strained" toward what lies ahead.  Strained.  This word is translated to mean "to stretch forth" and to "reach forward."  This means it's an active, deliberate attempt to move forward.  In other words, it would take intentional effort.  But, what was Paul's motivation for doing this?  It's found in verse 12 of the same chapter: because Jesus Christ made Paul his own.  Paul reminded himself that he literally belonged to Jesus, in every single way.  He had been rescued and pulled out of the misery and pain of his past for a higher calling: to serve and love Christ in a way that also served and loved others.  In this rock solid truth, Paul found his meaning in life, and his purpose for the future. This was such a powerful reminder to Paul when he was tempted to dwell on past mistakes.  

     Maybe that's you today. We all struggle with past mistakes and sins. It's impossible to forget things.  Especially when our enemy in Satan loves to accuse and remind us daily.  But if we are able to always remember our past sins, we also have the ability to remember why we "strain" forward to look ahead at our present calling and identity, and also our future belonging.  We press ahead because Jesus has made us His own.  We are brand new. We are not the same, and are always being molded into the image of the One who saved us.  And while our memory reminds us of the past, it's just that : a memory.   Through the Holy Spirit, we have the power to fight back against our regrets and Satan.  Strain forward, Christian.  Straining implies it won't be easy.  But take heart, all things are possible through the God we belong to.  Amen and amen.

Don't Grow Weary, Christian

by Brandon Walker

Don't grow weary. When you read that, do you half-smile and shake your head like I did when I wrote it? Galatians 6:9 tells us to not grow weary. But, there's so much more in the next part of the passage. It tells us not to grow weary in doing good. You may think to yourself, "How is it possible to grow weary of doing good? I mean, it's 'good.' Well, it's easy for us to grow "weary" with anything, even good things. Growing weary in doing good as a Christian is something that we will always have as a danger in our lives. Why? Because it's spiritual in nature. Doing good as a Christian is all summed up by loving God and loving others. But we must remember there is an enemy in Satan, our flesh, and the world.
Satan accuses us all day long. He tells us the good we are investing our time and energy in is pointless. He tells us we'll never see the fruits of the labor we commit our lives to through the power of Christ. Our flesh just simply gets tired and selfish. Let's be honest, our flesh is lazy. It thinks about itself. It wants to conserve its energy for its own desires. Your physical mind and body are not your friends. Satan can wreck havoc in our minds and thoughts. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must learn to master our physical body and mind and not let them direct our lives. Our sinful nature lies in our flesh, and we have to realize that it will fight against the spirit as long as we're alive on this earth. The world tells us to go, go, go. And if you ever stop you're weak, unproductive, and wasting time. Social media lies to us by showing us highlights reel moments of "success" in others lives. We compare ourselves with others, and we will usually never measure up to those lies we believe.
But Galatians 6:9 also tells us we will reap. That is a promise from God. Sometimes God allows us to see some earthly results of growth for His kingdom. We get to see people saved by God through the words of the gospel he gives us to speak. We get to see the faces and tears of gratitude of those that we go out of our way to love and serve. But, even if we don't see those things when we do good, we will have an eternal reward from Jesus when we meet Him face to face in Heaven. So don't grow weary, Christian. Rest in Jesus when needed, which will be quite often. We weren't designed to be able to run this marathon of faith on our own strength. You need His power. Meet with Him daily.
We will get tired. But we can't grow weary. Be encouraged. There is a reward waiting for us.

Making Mountains Into Mole Hills

Making Mountains into Mole Hills

By Machelle McDowell

July 1, 2022

Psalm 77:14- “You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.”

The tallest mountain in the world is Mt. Everest. Mountain climbers call the area above 26,000 feet the “death zone” because thin air makes people weak and prone to fatal mistakes.

The most fatal mistake we can make when facing a mountain no matter how big it might seem is to let the mountain block our view of God.

We have been climbing a huge mountain for the last (10) months in preparation to complete a God size endeavor.

A mission team of (6) girl’s we call, “The South Fork Crusaders,” are preparing to travel to Ghana to share Jesus with children in villages, churches, and schools.

We are scheduled to share in 26 communities and minister to as many as 15,000 children and adults………the enemy is screaming mad!

Over the last (10) months the girls have shared Jesus throughout our community in different churches and events leading up to their departure for Ghana.

A mountain was placed strategically by Satan himself before us the entire process. Situations that were humanly impossible to resolve, God anchored our footing into the mountain that we might continue to climb!

My eyes are fixed…..The summit is within reach, but so far away at the same time.

The enemy came against us at every turn. This is a time when I lean on verses such as Matt 17:20 “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Wait a minute? Does Jesus really mean that we can move mountains? Paul says in 2 Cor 3.5 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” It is all about how big our God is not how big our faith is.

We continue to experience mind boggling interruptions to our ministry that can only be explained as spiritual warfare. A war is exactly what it is and I’m sure will continue to be as we move forward with the mission that God has placed upon our lives.

There is a mountain climbing term called, “belay.” It means to keep a climber from falling too far;  I have total faith that my God will be our “Belayer.” He will catch us if we start to fall and place our feet back on solid ground.

This mountain experience is teaching us so much! Apparently, the acoustics are far better on the mountain…because we definitely hear God speaking these words, “Is anything too hard for me?”

The mountain was a place where Peter, James, and John saw the glory of God in the midst of the Transfiguration of Jesus found in Matthew 17.

God’s glory and strength definitely is covering us on our mountain experience! It was as if He continues to say, “Don’t take your eyes off of me!”

Jesus himself was tested on a mountain. Remember?  Satan took him on a high mountain and offered him the kingdom…that was already His anyway, LOL!

Jesus went to the mountain often to pray! When he felt sad, overwhelmed, and troubled. A valuable lesson for us in the midst of our mountain experiences. He brought us to the mountain that we might experience Him fully!

He is teaching us to be great climbers! Climb this thing and don’t back down!

We serve a God that is bigger than any mountain that the enemy may place before us. We serve a God who can melt the mountains, Psalm 97:5.

• He is not confined.

• He is not surprised by any situation.

• He cannot be stopped.

Jeremiah 32:26 “I am the Lord, is anything too hard for me?”

We are to speak to God about the mountain that we don’t know how to climb.

God has displayed Himself in a miraculous way. I believe it was to show us that He is the God that makes mountains into mole hills.

We must be grateful for what God has done. Psalm 118:28 Your are my God, and I will thank you: you are my God, and I will praise your greatness.

I am sure we are going to experience many more boulders that will come against us in this journey but we have a message for Satan and his minions:

Acts 5:39 “But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found fighting against God!” He is our victor!!!

The American Holocaust

by Jonathan Carl

As I write this I reflect on this past week’s celebrations of the National Day of Prayer as well as Mother’s Day.  On the National Day of Prayer our nation is called to seek our Creator with humble repentance, requests, and praise.  On Mother’s Day we thank God for the blessing of the biological, foster, adoptive, and spiritual mothers He has given us.  In 2022 these two days have fallen in midst of a week of news and debate about the potential Supreme Court overruling of the horrendous Roe vs. Wade 1973 judicial overreach that legalized the murder of babies in American wombs.

2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (ESV)

Twenty years ago I toured to Dachau, Germany (a Nazi concentration camp) and saw the process through which millions were killed and were incinerated.  I cannot unsee a Nazi concentration camp.

In recent years, I have seen videos of the process through which abortionists have killed tens of millions of babies within the womb.  I cannot unsee the photos of children’s crushed, cut, and suctioned bodies.  I grieve that their mothers and fathers allowed the bodies of their children to be broken, dismembered, and disposed of or incinerated as trash.

Holocaust (dictionary.com): “any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life”

German history cannot ignore their past reality of the Jewish holocaust.  A mass slaughter of people deemed “life unworthy of life” (German: Lebensunwertes Leben) due to their ethnicity or different abilities. 17+ million souls murdered from 1933-1945.

Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.”

American history cannot ignore their past and present reality of the American holocaust.  A mass slaughter of babies has occurred in the name of “choice”, “convenience”, “women’s health”, “privacy”, and “rights” by giving parents the “right” to murder their own children, declaring their child to be “life unworthy of life.”  63+ million souls murdered from 1973 to 2022.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

To Those Who Continue to Support Abortion.  Stop, before it is too late.  God assures us of His just wrath against those who murder.  Hear and heed His loving warning.  Watch a video of an abortion.  See the photos of dismembered infants.  Study the science and Scripture of life - watch babies sucking their thumbs in the womb, hear the heartbeats of 6 week olds, and feel the physical response of in-utero children to their mother’s voice.

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil”

To Those Who Regret Their Past Abortion or Election of Pro-Abortion/Choice Leaders.  Confess to God that you are sincerely sorry.  Repent and turn away from your sin against your Creator and His creation. Trust and believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Ask God for forgiveness. Enjoy Jesus’ love and peace forever.

1 John 1:9–10 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

To Those Who Pray and Vote for an End of Abortion in America and Beyond. Don’t stop.  Speak the truth and love of Jesus.  Keep praying fervently. Vote for life. Pray for our national, state, and local leaders.  Support Clarity Solutions for Women and other pro-life causes in our region.  Open your heart and home to adoption for the hundreds of thousands of babies that will need families if abortion is made illegal in the majority of U.S. states.  Don’t grow weary in doing good.  May the Lord heal our land.

Proverbs 31:8 “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

More here: "What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?"

https://www.trustworthyword.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-abortion

what is your Barabbas, Christian?

Take up your Cross!

What is your Barabbas,Christian?

By Machelle McDowell

Have you ever gone along with “the crowd” and chose to do something that you knew was wrong?  The crowd we are speaking of today did exactly that. Why did the crowd found in Mark 15:13-14 choose to release Barabbas instead of Jesus?

Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. He voiced his convictions outloud in Luke 23:14 by stating, “I have found no fault in this man.” But, he had a serious situation on his hands. 

The crowd was on the verge of a revolt against him if had stood up for Jesus. He had to choose to either do what he thought was right or what was politically expected of him. 

The Romans were accusing Jesus of treason which was a crime that ended in execution. Pilate recognized this whole plot was being manipulated by the chief priests. In Mark 15:11 states, “The chief priests were stirring up the crowd.” 

Pilot tried to have Jesus released based on the custom of releasing a prisoner every Passover season, not out of the goodness of his heart, but because of the proof presented before him. Pilate thought they would release Jesus. 

With both the crowd and the chief priests and their rogues cheering this on……Pilate’s (Political) hands were tied.  He regretfully ordered the scourging to begin which was the onset of the crucifixion process.

The crowd made its choice!  The people rejected Jesus and chose Barabbas. Barabbas was well known. Not by his goodness but as a murderer and terrorist.

Such irony in this situation. The crowd chose Barabbas but Jesus chose the crowd, right? 

Folks, we are still choosing Barabbas today. Why did the crowd choose to free an evil man and sentence our loving Saviour to be crucified? 

Personally, I think it was rooted in “self.” Most decisions we make are based on impressions of what others think of us and what we think of ourselves, which is most of the time too highly.

I’m sure there was somewhat of a fear factor involved that day? The crowd was afraid of what would happen to them if they went against the chief priests. Again, self focused. 

What a display of cowardice? How often do we act the same way? We choose to reject Jesus to fulfill our own selfish motives and desires. Sometimes, it’s the simple act of turning the other direction when we know we are in the midst of an ungodly action, deed, or decision but we don’t want to rock the boat or make ourselves look like Jesus freaks and go against the norm. It is much easier to just walk away and be numb. In doing so, we choose Barabbas over Jesus. It is much safer, right? So, we think.

Rejecting Jesus is a dangerous action and bears heavy consequences. There is much to be said in God’s Word about rejecting Christ. These are words for the sinner and the saint.

“The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge: the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” 

John 12:48

“But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” 

Matt 10:33

The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you reject me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.

Luke 10:16

It is one thing to reject Christ and His work on the cross as a lost soul; but to know God and carry His spirit within you and deliberately reject who He is and what the Bible says you are in him is unthinkable. Paul say in Romans 2:16 -God judges the secrets of men.

We cannot call ourselves Christians and stand before the cross to only choose Barabbas instead of Christ over and over and think it is acceptable. In essence we are choosing self. We want the cross but not the burden it bears. We want the approval of man more than the accountability of carrying our cross for the Saviour who died for us.

We choose the world and all it has to offer in hopes that Christ continually overlooks our weaknesses and demonstrates grace. This is dangerous territory friends. 

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world-  “The world is passing away along with its desires but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”  I John 2:17.

What is your Barabbas? What is it that tempts you to continually reject who you are to Christ? 

Take up thy cross and follow me

I heard my Master say

“I gave my life to ransom thee Surrender your all today.” 

Is Jesus Your cup of Tea?

Is Jesus Your Cup Of Tea?

Is Jesus your Cup of Tea?

By Machelle McDowell

Have you ever heard this quote, “Life is like a cup of tea…it’s all in how you make it?”  A tea bag is not only filled with flavor but can teach us much about abiding in Christ! 

This week our church is spending time in the book of John, specifically John 15 and it left me steeping over the question, “What does it mean to abide in Christ?”

In John 15 Jesus is teaching the disciples about what it looks like to have life in Him after He departs. He is preparing them for how to abide in Him without his physical presence.

The beauty of this passage is that the message was not only meant for the disciples of that day but for us as well!

Vs 4: “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”

We abide in Him through His word and He abides in us through the comforter that He sent for us that is available for every Christian, His holy spirit.

Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and the vinedresser. In vs 2, Jesus points straight to the pruning shears! He says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit will be taken away, AND every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”  

Christians, we must endure seasons of pruning in our lives to become the most fruitful that we can be!

Vs 4: “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”

This scripture takes me back to the tea bag! We have been drinking a lot of hot tea at the office lately and I have been experimenting with a few techniques on how to prepare the perfect cup of tea! LOL

I have learned that you will never know how strong the tea bag is until you let it sit in hot water. The longer it sits the more flavor seeps from the tea bag. 

Our strengths come from the difficulties we encounter. When do we abide in Christ the most? When we are in hot water! Right? That makes us at our strongest. 

Now get this….One technique I tried was to dip the bag in an out of the hot water and when I thought it was strong enough, I laid the tea bag aside. Bad method! You don’t get the full flavor of the tea by using this method. 

Christians, we use this same technique in our Spiritual lives sometimes. When we pop in and out of church when it is convenient followed by dipping in and out of scripture and not abiding in Jesus every day….it effects the work of Christ in our lives. This makes us weak. There is nothing worse than a weak cup of tea! 

We cannot withstand the difficulties of life using this method. It is impossible to abide in Christ in such an inconsistent manner.

This is what happens to us when we try to do life on our own. We end up with a weak cup of tea…..a weak Christian. 

If you want to be a fruitful Christian, learn what it means to truly abide in Him!  Is Jesus your cup of tea?

“Abide in me, and I in you.”

The best part of waking up is JESUS in your cup!

Scripture guidance in how to abide in Christ:

John 15:4-9

John 8:31

2John 1:9

Galatians 2:20

The Love of a Shepherd

The Love of a Shepherd

The Love of a Shepherd

By Machelle McDowell

What do you call 100 sheep rolling down a hill? A lamb-slide…LOL. Sorry, just thought that joke would be an appropriate lead in to my blog this week….maybe not?

I spent some time recently in Luke 15. I couldn’t move past the parable found in verses 1-7.  Jesus was being condemned for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. But in His unique way of making a point, he shared the parable of the lost sheep. 

He began by asking the Pharisees, “If you had 100 sheep and one went astray, would you not go after it and leave the 99?” I love this! This is what God does! 

He loves “ewe!”…..sorry again, It is addicting, LOL 

Jesus demonstrated in this story the love of God. Jesus continued to explain how the shepherd would go after the sheep and when it was found the shepherd would throw the sheep over his shoulder and rejoice! 

He would be so thrilled that upon his return the shepherd would tell everyone about how he found the lost sheep! 

Why was I hung up on this beautiful parable? And what does it mean? It dawned on me. This is my testimony! I was the lost sheep. I ran from God for so long but He continued to pursue me! 

There is a common eye disease among sheep known as “Snow blindness.” It is a bacterial infection that can cause cloudy vision or loss of sight. There was a time in which I definitely had this condition!

I had been blinded long enough! The devil had done a real snow job on me. He had persuaded me that I was enough! Who needed God? I was the only person I could trust in my life. Lies from hell sometimes consume us. 

God sent many (shepherds) into my life to be His hands and feet and help lead me into the fold. I am so thankful and grateful for the many people who prayed for me and witnessed to me about Jesus. God never abandoned me because of my ignorance or my blindness to his presence. 

God has been pursuing us from the beginning of time! It all began in the garden of Eden! Adam & Eve sinned and instead of running to God…they ran from him. Sound familiar?  

They hid themselves from him, so they thought. What did God do? He came looking for them! “Where are you?, he asked., (knowing exactly where they were). He knows our hearts. We cannot run from God. 

He came looking for me and used his earthen vessels to share His heart, His thoughts, His love, and He is looking for you too!

I remember vividly the day Jesus found me and threw me over his shoulder and carried me into the flock! 

I accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour (Shepherd) at age 21. I had been running and hiding for many years. I wasn’t looking for God, but He never took his eyes off of me. 

There was rejoicing in heaven that day according to scripture! Listen to verse 7: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than the 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.”  A little further into Luke 15 in verse 10- “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Hallelujah!

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Do you know the voice of the shepherd? Are you the sheep hiding in the crevices? Are you running from God? He is looking for you today! 

I would love to tell you more about my shepherd! My Lord! My Saviour! He can be your shepherd…your Lord….and your Saviour!

Feel free to contact me via Facebook Messenger or through our church website: Southfork.church. Simply fill out the form under “Contact Us” and I will respond however you request, either by phone or email. 

Praying that God has impressed upon your heart how very important you are to him!